Back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a cut on the middle finger of his left hand that required stitches, Anthony twice made baskets in the final 2:08 after Denver had pulled within four points.

"I don't have no hard feelings toward Denver. It was just one of them games that no matter how many runs we went on, they just wasn't going anywhere," Anthony said.

"It was just a matter of us and me not wanting to lose on our home court, protecting our home court. That's something that we always said and we believed in. So there came a point in time in that fourth quarter where it was called upon me to step up."

Jason Kidd scored 17 points for the Knicks, who bounced back from their worst offensive performance of the season a night earlier in Chicago and improved to 8-0 at Madison Square Garden. Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith each had 15 points.

It's the Knicks' best start at home since beginning 9-0 in 1992-93.

Ty Lawson had 23 points and Danilo Gallinari had 21 points and nine rebounds against the team that drafted him and later dealt him in the package for Anthony in February 2011.

Anthony decided to play after working out before the game, shooting 10 of 24 while adjusting to playing with the finger covered. He beat the Nuggets for the first time after the Knicks dropped a double-overtime game here last season.

And no matter what Anthony said, Chandler said players never stop wanting to beat their old team.

"You always want to show them what they're missing and I think they saw tonight," Chandler said.

Corey Brewer made the first two baskets of the fourth to give Denver an 88-80 lead, but the Knicks came right back with consecutive 3-pointers by Steve Novak and a dunk by Chandler to tie it. Ronnie Brewer scored the next four points to make it a 12-0 run, and after a basket by Kenneth Faried, Anthony made a jumper and a 3-pointer as the Knicks opened a 97-90 advantage.

Denver from there could get it down as close as four, Anthony nailing a jumper on one occasion and driving into the lane for another basket to keep the Nuggets away.

"Tonight we let one player get hot, Melo, and once he started hitting he was unstoppable," Faried said.

The offense wasn't quite fixed after New York was held to 85 points and 32.1 percent shooting in an eight-point loss at Chicago on Saturday. Raymond Felton was 4 for 15 a night after a 9-for-30 night, and Smith was just 5 of 19, leaving the Nuggets feeling as if they let one get away.

"I tell the team all the time, I say I don't mind losing to a good team, but we lose because we give them things," Denver coach George Karl said. "We give them gifts."

Anthony spent the first 7 ½ years of his career with the Nuggets, telling them in the 2010 offseason he wanted out. He and Karl clashed at times during their time together, but Karl predicted their relationship would be fine someday and said he hasn't backed away from his belief that Anthony will eventually get to the top of basketball.

"I've said that I feel Melo's going to win a championship someday," Karl said before the game. "He's going to figure out that scoreboard numbers and stat sheets aren't important. It's the team scoreboard and intangibles of the game that make winners champions."

The Knicks gave up more than they wanted to in order to get Anthony, and the Nuggets had better balance and more success afterward. Now the Knicks seem to have found the system and personnel that fit best around Anthony, and Karl said the trade was a win-win.

"They wanted to get back to the top of the mountain and they took a chance on going out and getting one of the top 10 players in basketball. It didn't work for a while but it looks like it's working now," Karl said.

Anthony was only 1 of 6 in the first quarter and the Nuggets hit 11 of 19 shots, yet Denver's lead was only 25-23. The offenses got untracked in the second, New York outscoring Denver 38-33 to take a 61-58 lead at the break. Anthony scored 11 points in the period, when the Knicks made 16 of 17 free throws.

Notes

Knicks F Rasheed Wallace missed the game with a sore left foot.

Corey Brewer finished with 15 points after scoring 19 or more in three straight games, tying a career best.

The Knicks began a stretch where they play seven of eight games at home -- and the lone road game is just a short trip to Brooklyn on Tuesday.

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